I am excited to join the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Insigneo Institute for in silico Medicine at the University of Sheffield as a Lecturer in Solid Biomechanics. I will be teaching the module Regulatory Affairs in Medical Devices starting this academic year. My research interest is in investigating the multiscale nature of chronic, progressive musculoskeletal diseases that are relevant to ageing. This knowledge can lead to accurate and early diagnosis, more effective treatments and reduced costs of drug development.

I joined the University of Sheffield after earning my PhD from Purdue University (US), followed by a post doc at KU Leuven (Belgium). Prior to joining Sheffield, I had experience in using computational and experimental approaches in solving problems related to the biomechanics of hard and soft tissues. I was looking forward to joining the Insigneo Institute and getting a front-row seat to the field of computational biomedicine (especially during events such as the Insigneo Showcase). I was curious to know the major challenges in this field. My ambition was to develop a research direction that would address one of these challenges while leveraging best my skills.

The MultiSim project, in which I have worked for the last three years, has immensely helped me in progressing along this direction. I worked with some of the best researchers investigating musculoskeletal biomechanics at different scales. These interactions helped me to develop a multiscale modelling approach that accurately predicts hip fracture – a problem of major societal relevance. I was able to critically review the state of the art of multiscale modelling in the field of biomechanics in general – thanks in large part to the research presentations made by colleagues in diverse topics within this field. This has shaped my approach for systematically investigating multiscale nature of musculoskeletal diseases, and I am excited by the possibilities and challenges that lie ahead!

At the same time, the University of Sheffield has been a very nice place to work, and I have benefited from very helpful colleagues across disciplines and departments, and from able research support staff and services. I hope to be able to make a positive contribution to this environment.